Dusk of Defiance (The Era of Ensemble Book 1) (12 page)

The tent was
adequately large and very cosy compared to the others, but it wasn’t enough.
I don’t want this. I want to contribute.
Megan thought as she glanced around at what her life had become, stuck in the same tent for over three weeks. She exited her home, Kara was standing guard outside.

“
You must hate me.” Megan said as she examined the Bastion around her. It had been quieter than yesterday. Something had caused the demonic creatures to be more aggressive. Nothing that the guards couldn’t deal with, but it had the camp scared.

“
I don’t hate you.” Kara eventually replied.

“You’re stuck guarding me, when you want to be out there. Searching for food, water, any supplies that could help the Bastion and its people.” Megan knew that Kara wanted to get back out there, and so did she. “Well come on, we’re joining the raid today.”

“
My orders are to guard and protect you.”

“
And I’m going on that raid with Oscar and Nelson. So if you want to fulfil your orders, then you’d better come.” Megan led the way, and Kara didn’t protest.

They found Oscar gearing up for the raid at the ammunition and weapon tent set up
just before the gate. The ammunition was diminishing, but it felt like the abominations were increasing. He was holstering his standard issue UCSC side firearm when he noticed Megan walking towards him.

“
You should be back at the tent.”

“
No. I’m coming with you.” Megan replied without hesitation.

“
It’s not safe for you out there.”

“
It’s not safe for anyone out there.” She looked Oscar straight in the eyes and didn’t flinch. “I’m sick and tired of the same four walls… or sheets. I want to get out there. Do my part for the Bastion. I don’t want to be given my rations. I want to earn them, like you do.”

“
I do more than enough for the Bastion. I scavenge more in a day than me and you take in a week.”

“
I don’t want to live off your supplies I want to live off my own.” Megan paused as she glanced towards Kara. She saw it in her eyes. She was losing. “Fine if you won’t allow me and Kara to go with you, we’ll go on our own raid.”

Oscar didn’t speak. He just stared into Megan’s eyes. Eventually he
conceded. “Fine you can come. Grab a weapon, some ammunition, and then meet me at the gate.” He took a couple of steps towards the gateway before turning around. “If anything goes wrong, you can never leave that tent again.”

“
Okay.” She nodded, and watched as Oscar walked away.

They grouped together at the gate and waited for Nelson to give the order to open it. The
metal screeched, but Megan had gotten used to the sound. It was more of an excitement for her. She’d hear it as someone returned from a raid, or if someone new had joined the Bastion. Although there hadn’t been any newcomers in a while, Megan was starting to lose hope of there being any more survivors.

They left the
Bastion with Oscar leading the way and Nelson covering the rear. Oscar had lectured Megan on the formation before they left.
I know my role, I won’t let anyone down.
She told herself as they entered what was commonly named in the Bastion as the ‘Wild’.

Nelson held a map and fed directions to Oscar. They had scavenged the whole perimeter of the
Bastion and they had begun to search further out. The first scouting parties were sent to places where they believed there would be supplies, but those supplies wouldn't last long, for obvious reasons.
First come, first served.
She thought to herself. Oscar stopped as Nelson told them they were in today’s scavenge area.

“
We’ll get more done if we split up. Megan and I will take the doors on the left. You two take the doors on the right. We’ve set up a group on the wrist devices so just ping if you’ve found anything.” Oscar waited for acknowledgments from everyone before he entered the first door on the left.

Megan followed him in. It was another apartment, decently sized, but not the largest. Most apartments were damaged, some weren’t even traversable, but if you were lucky you’d find an unscathed apartment with food, water, bed sheets, clean clothes, and other useful materials.
I feel lucky today.

The room was empty. Oscar had already moved onto the next apartment. Megan moved along the hallway and peeked into an apartment further along. They were all damaged or empty. She slumped her shoulders down disappointedly. There was a locked door further along the corridor. She moved slowly towards it and tried the handle. It was broken. Only the lock kept the door shut. She looked at the small terminal at the right of the door. The screen was smashed and the writing was barely visible, but it still worked. It wanted a pass code. Megan clicked the emergency open tab and a new application began to run. ‘Connection error. Please scan your serial number for determined access.’ Megan could scarcely read the screen, but she managed it. She checked her wrist device, 125655 was her serial number, but she doubted it would work. Only someone who had security level clearance could open it. Megan pinged her wrist device hoping one of the group had clearance. It wasn’t long before the others were with her.

“What have you found?” Nelson asked as he approached the group.

“
This apartment is locked. We need someone with security level clearance to scan in their serial number to open the door.”

“
Let me try.” Kara brushed past Megan as she reached the terminal. She hovered her wrist device across the screen. ‘Processing please wait… Complete. Security personnel level 3 detected. Opening door… Welcome 026889.’ The door unlocked and Kara slowly pushed it open. No one said anything. They all stared at the stacks of boxes inside the apartment. There must have been hundreds of boxes. Kara entered the room and the rest of the group followed her in. Nelson ripped open a white plastic box with the letter B in the corner.

“
Food.” Nelson said as he checked the packaging. “Open the other boxes with the different letters.”

“
A is water.” Kara said as she lifted another box. “It’s very heavy.” She laughed as she picked up two boxes.

“
C is spare batteries for generators.” Oscar stacked a few boxes. “We could have used these a few days ago.”

“
Right pick up a box of each. We’ll take it back to the Bastion and get more people to come and help us take the rest back. Everyone mark our current location on your map so we know exactly where it is.” Nelson glanced towards Megan. “This’ll keep us alive for months. Great find Megan.”

Megan blushed as the others congratulated her. They lined up one after the other and headed out of the apartment. The door closed behind them and locked again. They knew they could get back in with Kara’s help though.

It felt as if they had been walking for hours. Megan’s arms ached with the weight of the water.
Why did I have to pick up water?
She thought to herself miserably. She placed the box down to rest. “Guys, I need a rest.” She breathed heavily. No one stopped though.
They mustn’t have heard me.
Just as she was about to shout she heard a noise in the corridor behind her. It was the faint sound of metal being pulled against metal. It was getting louder and clearer. Megan left the box of water and began to run. She tapped on her wrist device and pinged to the group. Still no reply. She couldn’t keep moving, she was too tired, she needed to rest. Megan hid in the first open apartment and leaned her back against the wall. The sound came back. It was loose metal chains being dragged along the floor. She tried her wrist device again, but there was no message, no acknowledgment, nothing. She was alone to deal with the chained demon. It was close now. Megan couldn’t hear its footsteps, but the loose chains were being dragged just outside the apartment. The noise stopped. All she could hear was her own breathing. A loud shriek echoed throughout the corridor and into the apartment Megan had hidden within. She took out her side firearm, but she panicked and dropped it by the door. The thing stood on top of the gun. It was a woman. Her feet bare and black with dirt, her clothes ripped and torn, her hair patchy and her metal chains stretched from her neck to outside the room. Megan crawled to the back of the room and took cover behind an overturned table. The abomination shrieked again and lunged at her. Megan closed her eyes and waited for the impact. She heard a snap and the chain tightened. The cannibal flew backwards with the opposing force. Megan followed the chain and saw Oscar holding it. He pulled the chain again, the savage beast yelped when the chain tightened around its neck. It snarled at Oscar and lunged for him, but he took out his side arm and shot the demon. Blood splattered in a spray, some over Megan. She wiped the blood off her face and Oscar helped her up.

“
Are you okay?” He asked as he helped brush her down.

She nodded, but didn’t speak.
I just want to get back to my tent.
She felt tears well up in her eyes, but she fought them. She quickly headed out of the room and picked up her box of water.

The
Bastion hadn’t changed in the hours that they had been away. The gates opened and the group entered with their boxes of supplies. They didn’t stop to speak, they just headed for the leaders tent. Megan just wanted to clean herself off and forget about the whole mess.

“
What have you found?” Reilly asked as they entered the tent.

“
Megan found a whole apartment full of boxes like these.” Kara placed one of the boxes on the table.

“
Ah. I knew there were emergency supplies scattered around. Someone must have taken them back to their apartment when the breakout started. Was there anyone in the apartment?”

“
No one.” Kara replied. “We need more people to collect the rest of the boxes though. It could take a few hours, but I think we can get it done.”

“
I concur, but what state are you all in?” Reilly stared at Megan.

“
Megan got into a little bit of trouble, but nobody got hurt.” Oscar responded.

“
Nobody except that chained woman.” Megan felt her eyes water again, but this time she didn’t fight it. She ran out of the leaders’ tent and headed for her own. She could feel the stares and comments of people as she ran past them, but she didn’t care, she just wanted to be alone. She entered the tent and jumped on the hard lumpy bed that she had slept on the last few weeks. She hated it. She hated everything about the UCSC Defiance.
Why can’t things just go back to what they used to be?
Megan began to sob.
Why can’t Luke be here?

It wasn’t long before Oscar entered the tent and sat on th
e bed next to Megan. She sat up next to him and rested her head on his shoulder. He tilted her face upwards and gently brushed away the tears off her cheeks. She smiled briefly, but suddenly found herself kissing Oscar.
Did I initiate this?
Megan pulled away from him, but he placed his hand at the back of her neck and roughly pulled her towards him. She tried to break free of his grasp. “Oscar.” She said, but he didn’t reply. “Stop.” He wasn’t stopping. He pushed her down onto the bed. “Stop it!” He still persisted. It was like he was possessed. “Somebody help!” Megan shouted, but felt a slap across her face as she screamed for help. “No, get off me. Please.” She felt herself give up.

Smoke rose from the barrel of Luke’s revolver. The ship fell into a deathly silence,
he felt as though his heart had stopped, he had certainly held his breath. For a moment he thought he had struck his sister, as well as the brute on top of her. A cry whimpered from the bed, he rushed over immediately. The person was heavy, tall and muscular. He pushed him aside and Megan breathed deeply after struggling with the weight on top of her. Her eyes were closed, but tears streamed down her face.

“
Megan, are you okay?” He asked as he lifted her up from the bed. Her eyes opened wide as she heard her brother’s voice. Her crying ceased as she gazed at him shocked and confused. Her mouth opened but no words came out. Luke’s eyes watered, he smiled and wrapped his arms around his sister.

“
Luke?” Megan pushed away from her brother’s grasp as she finally spoke.

“
Yes, it’s me.” There was a pause before he continued. “I feared the worst, Megan. I hoped you were still okay, that you were still alive, but a part of me thought you were dead, or worse that you had turned into one of those cannibalistic savages.” He looked over at the dead body lying near him.

“
You killed him.” She replied still confused.

“
The creature was hurting you.” He noticed a stream of tears roll down from her eyes.

“
He saved me today. He’s saved me more than once. I wanted to love him, Luke...” Her voice faded. “But, I couldn't.”

“
What have you done?” Reilly shouted as he entered.

“
My sister was being attacked, so I defended her.” Luke stood between Reilly and Megan, ready to protect her again.

“
You killed Oscar?” Reilly tried to sound calm.

“
I killed whatever was hurting my sister. That creature was no longer human. I saw the monster in him.” Luke watched as Reilly paused on the spot.

“
Come with me, both of you.” Reilly eventually exited the tent.

“
Megan, let’s get out of here.” Luke held out his hand for her to grab. She hesitated, but accepted his help. “It’ll be alright.” He felt the cold stare of his sister’s eyes. She wasn’t alright, and he knew he'd given her an empty promise.

The atmosphere had changed throughout the
Bastion. The buzz of excitement and hope had vanished.

“
A gun hasn’t been fired in the middle of the Bastion for weeks, Luke.” Reilly hurried through the narrow passages in-between cloth tents and metal huts. “People thought they were safe here. We had made it safe here, or as safe as we could. This needs to be sorted out soon. We need to restore peace.”

“
I’ll do anything to help.” Luke replied.

“
I’m not sure if that’s the best course of action. We need to hurry to the others.” Reilly began to jog, his old legs struggled, and he slowed to a fast walk, as he felt pain between his joints.

Luke felt the stares. They blamed him for the panic which had spread throughout the camp.
And why wouldn’t they? I’m inside the Bastion for five seconds and this happens.
Some people were hiding. Other people grabbed their possessions and headed for the gates. The guards struggled to keep order. A gang of children circled around another young boy. They couldn't have been older than twelve. The group closed in on the lone male, his eyes watering, pleading for the gang to stop. They hurled insults at him. Luke overheard the gang as he walked past. The lone boy's parents turned before most. They circled the boy telling him it was only a matter of time before he turned. The boy gave up his pleas as the gang surrounded him. Fists and feet ploughing into the young boy. Luke heard him scream above the chaos, but Reilly ignored it and implored Luke to follow him.
All of this chaos from one pull of a trigger. A trigger I pulled.

They entered the leaders’ tent together. Luke kept a close eye on Megan. The leaders were huddled in a group raising their voices over each
others’ quarrels. They hadn’t heard them enter. Reilly cleared his throat to attract the attention of the other leaders. They didn’t respond. He took out his wrist device and shortly afterwards pings emerged on all of the leaders’ wrist devices. They quietened to check what the ping was for.

“
We have a situation.” Reilly said as the room fell silent.

“
We know we have a situation. Do you think we’re deaf?” A young man with a bandage strapped around his head shouted.

“
Calm yourself, Darryl.” A middle aged man with scratches along his neck responded lightly. “What happened out there, Reilly?”

“
Oscar’s dead.”

“
How?” Darryl asked impatiently.

“
Luke... shot him.”

“
Only because it was attacking my sister!” His face reddened with anger as he shouted.

“
…We should have a public sentencing.” Reilly continued after being interrupted. “Darryl spread the word.”

“
So I’m guilty without even having a trial?”

“
Luke, you need to understand. If what you’re saying is true that means Oscar turned, which is scary enough, but add to that how quickly he must have turned. He seemed fine minutes before he attacked Megan.” Reilly began to pace around the table in the centre of the tent. “It’s best if the Bastion doesn’t know that anyone can turn at any time, without any indication... We’ll have to banish you.”

“
No.” Megan cried. “You can’t just send him away. He’s all I have left.”

“
He’s right, Megan. This place will do better if it was shielded from the truth.” It hurt Luke to admit it.

“
But…” She stuttered.
How could it happen so quickly?

“
Don’t worry, I’ll be fine.” Luke squeezed her arm gently, hugged his sister, and then lifted her hand. He tapped at her screen. It was the invaluable link to the others in Megan’s scavenging party.

She reassuringly rubbed at her wrist device in response to her brother’s actions.
He will always be with me.

“
I’ve got your device number now. I’ll send you messages when I can. I promise.” He smiled, but he felt a tear building in his eye.

“
I can come with you.”

“
No.” Luke snapped. He spotted the M1A1 Carbine resting against a leg of the table. “I found something that belongs to you.” He walked over and picked up the rifle.

“
Grandfather’s Carbine.” She briefly smiled and wiped a tear from her cheek. “You’ve been to my apartment?”

“
It could do with a clean.” He placed the strap of the rifle around his sister’s neck. “Don’t lose it.” Luke fished in his backpack and handed some ammunition to Megan.

“
I won’t.”

“
I’ll find out what’s happened, Megan.” He turned to Reilly. “If I find survivors can I direct them here?”

“
Of course, but make sure they’re sane.” Reilly turned to the entrance of the tent as Darryl returned.

“
We’re ready for the sentencing.”

“
You might want to stay here, Megan.”

“
Okay.” She turned to her brother and hugged him one last time. “Don’t die out there.”

“
I’ll try my best.”

Reilly handed him some supplies and then led him out of the tent. There were shouts and chants in the distance. Two children barged past him.
“Hurry up or we won’t get a good spot.” The child leading shouted back to his friend.
Is everyone in the Bastion going to be watching?
He saw the answer for himself as Reilly led him through a thick crowd of people. “Murderer!” Someone screamed into his ear. “You’re worse than those beasts.” A voice bellowed to his side. He staggered as someone tried to trip him up. “His eyes are pure evil.”

Reilly pushed Luke through into an opening. He fell to his knees. There was a course of laughter throughout the cr
owd. Darryl climbed on top of a makeshift metal hut above everyone else, and then raised his hand for calm.

“
Show him no mercy.” A man in the crowd shouted. The horde of people erupted again in agreement with the man.

Darryl waited for quiet before he spoke.
“This man has killed one of our own. He is not one of us. Nor is he one of those abominations who lurk about the ship and feast on our brothers and sisters. We could forgive him as a person if he had turned into one of those monsters, for his actions would not be his. He killed today, and he was aware of his actions.” The mob wanted Luke’s blood. “Let this man’s punishment today be a warning to anyone who breaks the trust of the Bastion and its people.” The crowd roared in agreement. “Luke, you shall be banished from the Bastion, and may the creatures beyond the walls of our fortress grant you more mercy than you have shown us today.”

The gates screeched open. Two men grabbed each of Luke’s arms and led him to the gate.
“Leave!” One shouted as he threw him down to the floor. He crashed onto his knees. The gates screeched as they were shut behind him. He could still hear the crowd. Most wanted a more severe punishment, Luke could tell. And now he was alone again.
At least I know Megan’s okay.